The Advisory Council for the Network Integrated Biocollections Alliance Research Coordination Network is undertaking a review of the Strategic and Implementation Plan for the Network Integrated Biocollections Alliance. The purpose of this review is to evaluate progress made to date and to identify potential gaps in these plans and priorities for future initiatives. To inform this review, the Advisory Council would like to hear from the community.

The Strategic Plan set the biocollections community in the United States on a 10-year course to digitize and mobilize the scientific information associated with biological specimens held in U.S. research collections. The Implementation Plan published in 2013 included six recommendations for realizing the Network Integrated Biocollections Alliance. These recommendations are:

Establish an organizational and governance structure that will provide the national leadership and decision-making mechanism required to implement NIBA and to fully realize its Strategic Plan.

Advance engineering of the US biocollections cyberinfrastructure.

Enhance the training of existing collections staff and create the next generation of biodiversity information managers.

Increase support for and participation in NIBA by the research community and a broad spectrum of stakeholders.

Establish an enduring and sustainable knowledge base.

Infuse specimen-based learning and exploration into formal and informal education.